Neeranjanam

Saturday, a day special to the planet Shani. We find lots of people doing ‘Neeranjanam’ to Lord Ayyappa.

Neeranjanam - burning a wick made of cotton cloth filled with black til seeds in broken coconut filled with til oil, to ward off the ill effects of Shani.
Why?

According to Vasudevan Namboothiri of Mullapalli Illam, usually after any big Pooja at the temple; the Namboothiris do Niranjanam to the deity saying the following prayer:

“कायेन वाचा मनसेन्द्रियैर्वा
बुद्ध्यात्मना वा प्रकृतेः स्वभावात् ।
करोमि यद्यत्सकलं परस्मै
नारायणायेति समर्पयामि ॥”

Kaayena Vaacaa Manasendriyairvaa
BuddhyAatmanaa Vaa Prakrteh Svabhaavaat |
Karomi Yad-Yat-Sakalam Parasmai
Naarayana yeti Samarpayaami ||

Dear Lord, Whatever I have done with my Body, Speech, Mind, my Intellect, Feelings either consciously or unconsciously (through the natural tendencies of my Mind) ; I did without expecting any personal results. I Surrender all actions at the Lotus Feet of the Supreme.

Similarly, we pray to God to forgive us, mere mortals.

Coconut is auspicious and til seeds are supposed to be great source of solace for Shani dosha. By burning these together, we seek the blessings of our elders, hope to get rid of bad karma and ward off ill effects of the planet Shani in our horoscope.